


The Art of Impulse

by orphan_account



Series: Amasai Works [1]
Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Fluff, I love saihara so much you guys, It shows, Kissing, Love Confessions, Multi, Polyamory Negotiations, Romance, at all, but written by someone who does not understand love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:26:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23180917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Letting out a sigh, Rantaro raps his knuckles on the door, his rings making a hard click on the wood. He’s hardly through the second knock when the door opens, revealing Shuichi looking slightly confused in the threshold. He’s–He’s wearing a white dress shirt, his sleeves rolled up just above the elbows and the collar loosely open to reveal his clavicle, and pinstripe black slacks covering white socks. It’s not his normal uniform (which Rantaro should have been expecting), but what really strikes him silent is the lack of a hat on Shuichi’s head. His hair looks a bit messy, a cowlick bobbing around on top (Kinda like Kaede’s, Rantaro thinks), but it looks like the back of it is mostly pinned back somehow. Sharp grey eyes peer through his long bangs. He’s–He’s pretty.______________________________Rantaro checks in with a friend who thinks too much and tries to not be impulsive. Fails Miserably.
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede/Amami Rantaro/Saihara Shuichi, Amami Rantaro/Saihara Shuichi
Series: Amasai Works [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1666453
Comments: 2
Kudos: 47





	The Art of Impulse

**Author's Note:**

> Look. I have NO idea what I wrote. I literally have no concept of romance or how it works. Not even Joking. I have never written anything for these characters in my life. I have never published a fic in my life.
> 
> But Amasai is so good I couldn't not try
> 
> it ended up Amasaimatsu by accident bc I think that the Saimatsu relationship was too difficult to exclude and write off and then Akamatsu ended up being so close to Amami as I wrote their interactions that they got in a relationship whoops. 
> 
> I know this is rushed. I was rushed writing it. I'm writing day of, baby.
> 
> Romance and relationships do not work like this! I think. I had to exclude the negotiation parts that definitely occurred after this, but they're hyped up on adrenaline and love
> 
> I love them so much
> 
> Edit: FUCKED UP THE DESCRIPTION SO THAT'S THERE NOW

Sundays are usually lazy days for Rantaro. 

While he’s always searching for his sisters, there isn’t really anything he can do while waiting on information, and the lack of classes mean that he’s left to laze and wander about the Hope’s Peak campus. There isn’t much he can do regarding his talent either, short of booking a flight and going adventuring for a while. But then, it would be a waste to come back so quickly, and he has to file a notice with the school if he’s missing classes. He’s kinda stuck. Such is the life of the Ultimate Adventurer.

So yeah, Sundays are usually lazy days.

Usually.

**Akamatsu: Hey!! Have you seen Saihara today? I (15:20)**

**Akamatsu: Ugh haven’t seen him (15:20)**

**Amami: no. is he good? (15:21)**

**Akamatsu: Can you check on him? He said he was working overtime on a case today in his room (15:23)**

**Akamatsu: You know how he gets (15:23)**

**Amami: yeah sure what where is he (15:23)**

**Akamatsu: You’ve never been to his dorm? (15:24)**

**Amami: no (15:25)**

**Amami: shut (15:25)**

**Akamatsu: I didn’t even sya anything~ (15:25)**

**Akamatsu: *say (15:25)**

**Amami: you aren’t any better and it’s obvious. why don’t you check in on him? (15:26)**

**Akamatsu: shhhshshhh!! And I would! But I’m booked for a bunch of private performances tonight and I really can’t get away. Could you go make sure he’s alright? I’m afraid if I ask Momota he’ll just like (15:28)**

**Akamatsu: Bust down the door again and make it so Saihara doesn’t finish what he needs to and then he’ll be all tired tomorrow (15:29)**

**Akamatsu: More than usual (15:29)**

**Amami: fine jsut send me the building (15:30)**

**Akamatsu: Great! Oh can you stop by the dining hall and get him food? (15:30)**

**Amami: ok(15:30)**

**Akamatsu: good luck! ;) (15:31)**

**Amami: you are the worst and I love you (15:31)**

**Amami: idk what I would do without you (15:31)**

**Akamatsu: be a dateless repressed baby (15:32)**

**Amami: i changed my mind i hate you (15:32)** ****  
  


**Akamatsu: <3 (15:33)**

So that’s how Rantaro ends up back in the dorms, a tupperware of food in his bag, standing in the hallways blankly and staring at a door.

Rantaro rechecks the text from Kaede. He ends up having to scroll for a while, losing what he's looking for in a mess of long half finished thoughts sent over several messages and typo corrections, (because Kaede, gods bless her soul, has never reread one of her texts before sending it out in her entire life, and apparently her piano-honed accuracy with her fingers does not translate to typing) but finally finds where she sent him the address. Dorm 205. He takes a glance at the plaque next to the door. 205. He’s in the right place.

Shuichi’s place.

Right. Cool.

Rantaro finds himself studying the door, one hand hovering over it, poised to knock. It’s a nice door. Rantaro has one just like it, back at his own dorm. Wood. 

…

_This is so stupid._

_Why the hell is he stalling?_

He’s acutely aware that he’s just standing outside Shuichi’s dorm like an idiot, but he doesn’t really know what to do here. 

Pulling Shuichi out of his own head isn’t something he’s unused to at this point. Frankly, every person in their class has had to do it at one point. (Albeit with varying levels of… eccentricity mixed in. Ultimates are not known for doing anything normally.)

See, as level-headed and observant as he is, Shuichi has this thing where he kinda just… thinks things through too much.

A rare problem to have, honestly. Most people who space out are thinking about nothing at all. Or perhaps they’re thinking about everything, and end up going way off of the original thought that they end up with nothing productive being done. Shuichi though, doesn’t seem to space out. 

No, he _focuses._

He looks at things and decontructs them until he finds the best answer. He takes in everything around him and synthesizes that information quicker than anyone Rantaro’s really ever seen. Rantaro’s seen his grades; his memory and analytical skills are incredible. His leaps in logic are never without basis, and it’s made him an asset in the class (and frankly, around the school, if their upperclassmen are to be believed – and Rantaro believes) for helping with the daily dramas that seem to follow Ultimates. It’s probably an Ultimate Detective thing, honestly. 

(Even if Shuichi himself won’t believe in it long enough to let himself be reliable.)

So no one in their class is unfamiliar with seeing Shuichi focusing for long periods of time on a case. As a detective, he once had explained, it’s necessary for him to look at every aspect of a case in order to uncover where he was meant to go next, whether physically or metaphorically, to find the truth, and that was understandably time-consuming. 

It’s just that he’s god awful at taking himself out of his work for long enough to take care of himself. Kaito and Tenko, health nuts that they are, are always ranting on how he skips breakfast. Which wouldn’t be so much of an issue, but the detective just doesn’t seem to eat at other meals either. Kirumi often reports that he never comes to the dining hall until later in the day, long past any normal eating times, and has taken to leaving a portion of that day’s meals wrapped up in the fridge for him to grab on his own. Thinking about it, Rantaro doesn’t actually see Shuichi in the dining hall during lunch or dinner unless he’s being tugged in by Kaede or (weirdly) Kokichi. And they all see the dark circles. 

(He wonders if the worry is _because_ it’s Shuichi. Shuichi, who’s friends with everyone in class, who levels the more eccentric personalities out, who’s polite and observant to get along with others and takes time to try and understand them. Shuichi, who’s a hypocrite when it comes to worrying about the wellbeing of others.)

(Shuichi, who Rantaro tried to put walls up for, because the way he forgot himself around the boy brought up things he wanted to keep to himself. Shuichi, who quietly worried about the things that slipped out but tried his best not to push. Shuichi, who understood Rantaro’s own feelings. Who said that he was justified in searching for his sisters. Shuichi, who Rantaro can’t get out of his head.)

Rantaro himself has pushed the detective out of the library on multiple occasions, usually pretty late at night. Most of the time, it’s because they’re already just sitting together, having settled into their individual work, and Rantaro just pulls Shuichi out of the case long enough to get him to leave before the library closes.

But this is different. This is Shuichi’s dorm. This is Rantaro seeking Shuichi out where he lives to make sure he isn’t, like, overworking himself to death. 

(A genuine worry, according to Kaede.)

Is–

Is he nervous about visiting him? He wasn’t even this hesitant looking through dense jungles and foreign villages, or navigating extremely dicey confrontations to get any scrap of information on his sisters.

This should be simple. Like visiting a friend.

And right now, Shuichi is a friend, no matter how much Rantaro might a little bit wish that was different.

He’s known that he’s had feelings for Shuichi for a while. Granted, it took a bit. It wasn’t like his relationship with Kaede, where they were close friends for so long that elevating it to a romantic situation was just second nature. He loved her and she loved him, and that was that. It was just. Everything about the detective, from his gentle kindness to the way he would remember every detail about a person, from his reserved glow to the fluttering lashes from under his hat– Rantaro was enamored with it, and it left him breathless and made his heart do funny things.

It eventually became so much, and he confessed those confusing feelings to Kaede one night when they were laying in the field, just like when they were younger.

_(“You idiot,” she’d said. “That’s love.”)_

_(“Oh,” he said dumbly. “Is that okay with you? That I feel like that with him?”)_

_(“Yeah,” she laughed, harmonious like the piano she loved so much and filled with relief. He could see the meager stars reflecting on a glisten in her eyes. “It’s more than okay, because I love him like that too.”)_

They had held off on talking to Shuichi about it. Kaede was willing and ready to propose a relationship, but Rantaro was still a bit hesitant on the situation.

The timing had to be right, and while he knew Shuichi was close to the both of them, it would still be quite a thing to spring on him. They didn’t even know if Shuichi would be okay with that kind of relationship. Rantaro himself wasn’t even sure if he wanted anything to come of it. It wasn’t as easy as his relationship with Kaede.

So for now, a crush it remains.

Letting out a sigh, Rantaro raps his knuckles on the door, his rings making a hard click on the wood. He’s hardly through the second knock when the door opens, revealing Shuichi looking slightly confused in the threshold. He’s–

He’s wearing a white dress shirt, his sleeves rolled up just above the elbows and the collar loosely open to reveal his clavicle, and pinstripe black slacks covering white socks. It’s not his normal uniform (which Rantaro should have been _expecting_ ), but what really strikes him silent is the lack of a hat on Shuichi’s head. His hair looks a bit messy, a cowlick bobbing around on top (Kinda like Kaede’s, Rantaro thinks), but it looks like the back of it is mostly pinned back somehow. Sharp grey eyes peer through his long bangs. He’s–

He’s _pretty._

“Ah. I was, um. Wondering if you were ever going to knock.” Shuichi lets out a light laugh, but Rantaro can hear tinges of nervousness seeping through the breathy sound. Shuichi steps to the side as he swings wide the door to usher Rantaro inside.

“You, uh,” Rantaro clears his throat. It’s dry all of a sudden. “You knew I was there?” Shuichi makes a soft noise of denial as he puts a hand on the wall and shuts the door gently, pressing it all the way into the frame before he sets the doorknob back into place in the same conscientious way he does everything. 

(It’s... oddly endearing.)

He waits until he’s completely shut the door and facing Rantaro to speak, visibly mulling over whatever he’s about to say. “I heard the steps in the hallway and how it stopped at my door. I didn’t know it was you specifically, but I suspected that it was probably someone from our class, though definitely not Akamatsu or Momota. Or a couple others, actually.” He frowns a bit. “I thought it could be you, but…” Pause. It’s a common aspect of any conversation the detective seems to have; he’s never been careless with his words. Rantaro sweats a bit, but patiently waits for him to finish his thought. “...I don’t remember telling you what dorm I was in.”

“Ah, is that it?” Rantaro says it jokingly, but Shuichi seems to wilt a bit at his reaction. “Don’t worry about it! I just uh–” He springs a little too quickly to reassure, but finds himself at a bit of a loss. How does he say it so it doesn’t sound creepy? “–found you. With some help?”

Welp. Fail.

Shuichi doesn’t seem to mind it though, only perking up a bit and nodding. “You got it from Akamatsu, huh?” 

“Got it in one!” Rantaro smiles. “That detective logic of yours is infallible as usual, huh?”

He’s trying to keep it together. It doesn’t matter what slips out as long as he doesn’t double back on anything he says. He just needs to recover from whatever that fluster was. Play it smoothly.

Right.

Cool.

_Gods, he hopes his face isn’t red._

If it is, Shuichi doesn’t mention it, only smiling slightly in that Mona Lisa smile he has. Like he’s hiding. “It really isn’t anything…” He seems like he wants to put down his skills again, but merely shakes his head. It’s a pretty big step from where he was before the class all met, Rantaro notices.

Rantaro _also_ notices that his dark, almost blue, hair is messily tied back in what could generously be called a very small ponytail, and his bangs brush over his cheeks and eyes as his head shakes. 

It’s very cute.

_He’s_ very cute.

“Anyways…” Shuichi walks over to a bunch of papers laid out on the floor in a corner and folds himself into a little space in the fray of it that’s completely clear. The rest of the room is mostly clean, if not a bit disorganized, but the mess of work on the floor is really the only big mess. Looking over it..? Most of it doesn’t really make sense to Rantaro, torn notepad papers covered in semi-neat scrawl mixed in with what has to be copies of the case info Shuichi’s been working on, all grouped together in sets that must signify a connection of some kind. Add in some red string and a corkboard, and it could be a very good conspiracy board. Shuichi must see his scoping, because he splays his hands over the mess. It’s probably classified or something, now that he’s thinking about it, and the adventurer quickly raises his gaze. “...I doubt you came to talk to me about my detectiving. Is something wrong?”

“Oh!” Rantaro sets down his bag, digging in to pull out the tupperware of food. “Kaede was worried you holed up here working and didn’t eat. I grabbed your portion from what Kirumi saved.” He runs his eyes over the detective sort of without meaning to. “Were you _planning_ on leaving to eat? You’re mostly dressed.”

“A-ah, no...” Shuichi averts his gaze. “...My uncle always said to dress like you’re working, even if no one’s going to see you...” It’s said quietly.

Rantaro cocks an eyebrow. “But you weren’t planning on eating?” He makes his voice harder, and Shuichi laughs shamefully.

“I… You and Akamatsu really didn’t need to worry about me.” He brings his hand up to his head, as if he’s about to fiddle with his hat.

“...Ah.” His hand trembles in the air for a bit, longing for a shield, before it goes through his bangs instead, the hair flowing through his fingers in a way that makes Rantaro’s heart that something funny. “I’m not wearing my hat.”

Rantaro flinches. “Yeah,” he says dumbly. _Smooth._ “Shit, you have trouble looking people in the eyes, right? Do you want it? I can grab it if you–” He starts scanning the room for the cap. He spots it on the cabinet and is about to go for it when–

“No, I don’t think that’s necessary.” Rantaro pauses and turns back to Shuichi. The detective is standing now, a shy grin on his face, different from the Mona Lisa smiles he usually bares to the world. This one is warm and real and aimed at _him_. “If it’s your eyes, I’m okay.”

Rantaro forgets to breathe. All of a sudden, the only thing he wants to do is kiss his friend.

Instead, he coughs and runs a hand through his hair. “Geez, you can’t say things like that so smoothly! Don’t tell me I’m the only person you’ve taken your hat off around.”

Shuichi’s cheeks flare up in a blush of pink that really should be illegal. “Well, no, but…” He rubs his thumb over a spot on his chin, his earlier confidence gone. “At school, only you and, uh, Akamatsu. I don’t know if I can deal with everyone else’s intensity without it yet.”

Rantaro finds himself stepping forward, careful not to step on any of the papers, and setting a hand on Shuichi’s head. Shuichi looks up a bit confusedly at the taller boy. “Amami?”

He doesn’t think as he toussels the detective’s hair, earning a slight noise of dismay, before letting his hand trail down Shuichi’s cheek. It’s warm and flushed, and Rantaro is restraining every impulse he has to kiss him, because he doesn’t know if Shuichi is ready for that and it’s not right. “You need to take care of yourself, whether that means physically or emotionally. It’s okay if you still need your hat. And of course we’re going to worry about you.” Shuichi is burning against his hand. 

“You really are amazingly beautiful with or without it,” he murmurs. Shuichi makes a strangled noise of disbelief, and Rantaro snaps back to reality. Shit. He can’t believe _that_ came out of his mouth either. He quickly retracts his hand.

Shuichi looks blank before letting out a single, breathy laugh. “You…” He reaches up to grab Rantaro’s face in both hands. “Talking about me when you’re saying stuff like _that_ so smoothly while you have a girlfriend! Is Akamatsu even okay with you talking that way?” It’s so blunt and forward and unlike Shuichi that Rantaro can’t help but give a nervous chuckle.

There’s only one answer here, and there isn’t a going back.

He brings his own hands to hold Shuichi’s wrists. They’re thin and cold compared to his larger, calloused hands, and Rantaro marvels to himself at how his fingers can reach completely around. 

He’s always been impulsive. This is just another one of those times.

“She is _completely_ okay with me talking this way, but only to you. _Only_ to you. Because she loves you, like she loves me.” Rantaro takes a deep cleansing breath.

“And I love you too.”

Shock travels over Shuichi’s face, before his expression settles into that pensive frown he always gets whenever he’s analysing something. He looks Rantaro in the eyes, still holding Rantaro’s face, and the adventurer can’t help but feel a little self conscious under the detective’s gaze, but he doesn’t drop eye contact. He tries not to fidget, finding himself lost in the way Shuichi’s eyes are bright and a little _green_ amidst the grey. 

“I know this is a lot to process, and Kaede and I talked about it a lot and we really want you to be a part of this, of _us_ , because we really love you and she wanted us to talk about it together but I just, uh, did this impulsively? And I—” He’s rambling to make up for the silence, he knows, but then Shuichi does something that shocks him silent.

He pulls Rantaro’s face down and kisses him.

On the lips.

It isn’t long, and it’s a chaste kiss, but the room is spinning and Rantaro is red and reeling. He buries his face in his hands, peering through his fingers to stare at Shuichi.

He’s looking to the side, a seemingly stoic expression betrayed by the bright blush on his face. He’s never looked more beautiful.

“Sorry. That was impulsive of me. I should have asked first, but I couldn’t think of a proper answer...” Shuichi meets his eyes, a bright smile lighting up his face. “I loved you both too.”

Rantaro only laughs, before pressing in a kiss back in retaliation. When they part, they’re both bright and red and giggling like mad and unable to look anywhere but at each other. 

“Oh man, Kaede’s gonna _flip_ when she finds out I did this without her.” Rantaro digs into his pocket to find his phone, immediately dialing Kaede’s number and putting it on speakerphone. It rings twice before the mic crackles and she picks up.

“Hey, is something up?” Her voice muffles slightly though the connection.

“Guess what I just did.” Shuichi laughs at the audible grin in his voice (although he turned a little pale at the prospect of calling Kaede) and Kaede gasps.

“You _didn’t_. Without me?!” She mocks betrayal and, mess that they are, the two can’t help but smile. “I’m so happy that you’re going to be with us, Saihara.” Her voice lilts through and fills the room with determination. “I’m going to rush right back after these performances, and I better hear all the details when I get back!”

“There’ll be dinner, even if you come back late,” Shuichi says. “Tojo always puts too much in the portions she gives me.” 

Rantaro reaches over to card his fingers in Shuichi’s bangs. “Hey, this means you can’t not take of yourself anymore.” Shuichi tilts his head towards him.

“Oh?”

Kaede pipes up over the phone. “Because you’ll have us by your side from now on!”

Shuichi looks between them two and beams. “That goes for you both too. I’ve… never done anything like this before. Not a relationship, and certainly not what this is, but…” He takes Rantaro’s hands in his, one hand resting carefully on the phone. “I want us to work. I think we need to talk about _this_ more in depth together, but I really do want this. Us.” He shakes his head. “I want to help you both.”

“And we want to help _you_ ,” Kaede cries.

“We’ll help each other,” Rantaro grins.

It's not a finished conversation. Not even close. Rantaro doesn't know what'll happen when he leaves to find his sisters, if he can allow himself to bring two people he cares so much about on dangerous expeditions, or if he can even tolerate leaving them behind. Protecting these people is all he can think about, and they're young and set on paths of life that will undoubtedly take them far away from each other. The life of an Ultimate will never be "normal," after all. 

But just for a moment, fueled by nothing but adrenaline and love, it’s just them three, not all there, not all together, but laughing with each other in earnest.

**Author's Note:**

> local grey-ace/aro who has never been in a relationship before but has some concept of it tries to write a romance in under 8 hours and doesn't go back to recheck over any of her work, writes a mess, more at 10
> 
> lmao this is the first fic I've literally ever finished and it SHOWS hot damn
> 
> I wanted to get Kaede there too, but then I also wanted to focus more on the Amasai and I was running out of time to write. So sorry babe you didn't genuinely show up but I love you and if I write more i promise I'll give you your time to shine!!!
> 
> I'm so sorry I have idea what this was, hopefully the next installments (if I do any of them) will be better at least
> 
> Hopefully I get a grasp on these characters at some point, but I hope they aren't TOO ooc


End file.
